Life-Course Genome-wide Association Study Meta-analysis of Total Body BMD and Assessment of Age-Specific Effects

Bone mineral density (BMD) assessed by DXA is used to evaluate bone health. In children, total body (TB) measurements are commonly used; in older individuals, BMD at the lumbar spine (LS) and femoral neck (FN) is used to diagnose osteoporosis. To date, genetic variants in more than 60 loci have been identified as associated with BMD. To investigate the genetic determinants of TB-BMD variation along the life course and test for age-specific effects, we performed a meta-analysis of 30 genome-wide association studies (GWASs) of TB-BMD including 66,628 individuals overall and divided across five age strata, each spanning 15 years.

Source: The American Journal of Human Genetics - January 4, 2018 Category: Genetics & Stem Cells Authors: Carolina Medina-Gomez, John P. Kemp, Katerina Trajanoska, Jian ’an Luan, Alessandra Chesi, Tarunveer S. Ahluwalia, Dennis O. Mook-Kanamori, Annelies Ham, Fernando P. Hartwig, Daniel S. Evans, Raimo Joro, Ivana Nedeljkovic, Hou-Feng Zheng, Kun Zhu, Musta Tags: Article Source Type: research